


Claims of Sociopathy

by Brynncognito



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Autistic Sherlock, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-18
Updated: 2014-03-18
Packaged: 2018-01-16 03:46:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1330735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brynncognito/pseuds/Brynncognito
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sherlock knows John knows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Claims of Sociopathy

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [equalseleventhirds](http://equalseleventhirds.tumblr.com/).

"Go on, then. Out with it."

John blinked, then frowned, glancing up from the novel he'd been half-heartedly reading. Sherlock was staring up at the ceiling from his sprawling position on the sofa, but John swore he could see Sherlock's jaw clench even from his usual chair.

"Sorry?" 

There wasn’t even any point in being irritated anymore when Sherlock dropped a conversation on John he’d already apparently been having in his head.

Sherlock let out an aggravated noise, hands going to his hair, before dropping back down to his sides to flutter and twitch restlessly.

“I _know_ you know, John.” This time Sherlock’s words were spoken slowly and carefully, with a hint of irritation and through clenched teeth. John sighed, set his book aside.

“Sherlock, we’ve been _over_ this. You can’t just start talking about things at random and expect me to know what you’re on about.” John’s voice was patient, yet firm, but Sherlock reacted by almost violently flinging himself from the sofa and onto his feet, where he immediately started pacing.

“I know you’ve been cataloguing the _signs_ and _symptoms_ , whether you’ve done so consciously or not. The avoidance of eye contact, the _movements_ ,” Sherlock spat out that last word like it was something hateful, continuing more rapidly. “The lack of knowledge of _social_ rules, the tendency to spit out heaps of information on certain topics, the hyper-focus…” Sherlock paused, to inhale, and John cleared his throat deliberately.

“Yes,” John responded carefully, “I know you’re autistic.” When Sherlock visibly flinched at the word, _the word he’d tried so hard all his life to escape with grandiose claims of sociopathy_ , John’s face softened slightly.

“I wasn’t going to bring it up until and _unless_ you did so. It’s obviously something that… distresses you, and I assumed you’d want to tell me yourself, whether I’d figured it out or not.”

Sherlock had stopped pacing as John spoke, though his hands clenched and unclenched almost nonstop. He’d trained himself out of some of the most obvious forms of stimming over the years, but it wasn’t something he could stop altogether.

Now, Sherlock’s mouth opened, then closed again. He looked almost pained in his inability to come up with a response. Luckily, John had done enough research by this point that he was fairly familiar with the communication issues autism could give people, even Sherlock Holmes.

“It’s all right, Sherlock. I’m not going anywhere, and we can talk about—or even bloody text about it if and when you’re ready.”

Sherlock simply nodded curtly, though John was sure he saw relief in the man’s face before he glanced away.


End file.
